Ultrastrong and Bioactive Nanostructured Bio-Based Composites.

Nature's design of functional materials relies on smart combinations of simple components to achieve desired properties. Silk and cellulose are two clever examples from nature-spider silk being tough due to high extensibility, whereas cellulose possesses unparalleled strength and stiffness among natural materials. Unfortunately, silk proteins cannot be obtained in large quantities from spiders, and recombinant production processes are so far rather expensive.

Nanofibril Alignment in Flow Focusing: Measurements and Calculations.

Alignment of anisotropic supermolecular building blocks is crucial to control the properties of many novel materials. In this study, the alignment process of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) in a flow-focusing channel has been investigated using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and modeled using the Smoluchowski equation, which requires a known flow field as input. This flow field was investigated experimentally using microparticle-tracking velocimetry and by numerically applying the two-fluid level set method.

Hydrodynamic alignment and assembly of nanofibrils resulting in strong cellulose filaments.

Cellulose nanofibrils can be obtained from trees and have considerable potential as a building block for biobased materials. In order to achieve good properties of these materials, the nanostructure must be controlled. Here we present a process combining hydrodynamic alignment with a dispersion-gel transition that produces homogeneous and smooth filaments from a low-concentration dispersion of cellulose nanofibrils in water.